Various techniques have been proposed for dealing with age or injury related intervertebral disc degeneration. Two techniques in use are disc removal and fusion. Both of these techniques involve major invasive surgery with the related risks. More recently, another technique employed has involved the replacing of a degenerative disc with an artificial disc. This, once again, is carried out using major invasive techniques.
An intervertebral disc comprises two parts, an annulus fibrosis surrounding a nucleus pulposus. The intervertebral disc cooperates with end plates of the vertebrae between which it is sandwiched. Still more recently, techniques have been proposed to replace only the nucleus pulposus of the disc in circumstances where the degeneration is detected at a sufficiently early stage. Such techniques may be able to be performed in a minimally invasive manner.
A need exists generally when implanting a tissue prosthesis to cause as little trauma to the surrounding tissue as possible. For example, in the case of an intervertebral disc, one would aim, when doing minimally invasive replacement of a degenerative nucleus pulposus, to minimise trauma to the surrounding annulus fibrosis of the disc.